College's training agreement under fire

Facility owned by Xe, aka Blackwater

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OTAY MESA 
Critics are calling for Southwestern College to rescind a deal that sends students in its police academy to a facility run by the company formerly known as Blackwater.

Southwestern's governing board unanimously approved an agreement in January to offer Blackwater Lodge and Training Center the use of rooms on campus in exchange for use of Blackwater's shooting range.

Since the agreement was approved in January, Blackwater Worldwide has renamed itself Xe and changed the name of its Otay Mesa facility to U.S. Training Center Southwest. The center is blocks from the police academy Southwestern College runs on its Otay Mesa satellite campus.

“I don't think you associate with people involved in criminal activities,” said Liz Sisco, chairwoman of the college's art department. “I don't want to be sending that example to our students that this is OK.”

In Washington in January, five Blackwater employees pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges in connection with the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007. A sixth employee pleaded guilty.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, said Friday that he intends to send a letter to the college board asking it to rescind the deal.

“An educational institution like Southwestern College should signal its opposition to this mercenary corporation, a corporation that allows its employees to break national laws, other nations' laws and not (be) held accountable,” Filner said.

Angelica Suarez, Southwestern's vice president for student affairs, said Southwestern instructors, not Xe employees, would provide the Saturday trainings. Suarez said the college approached Blackwater after being told that its students were not guaranteed access in that time slot to a range it had been using at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

“The only consideration that we had in talking to the representatives from Blackwater was ensuring that our students were able to meet their training requirements for graduation,” Suarez said.

Brian Bonfiglio, an Xe vice president, said his company is trying to be a good neighbor. Bonfiglio said that he did not ask for use of college facilities but that college representatives offered it as a goodwill gesture.

“What is wrong with us providing a state-of-the-art facility to men and women who will potentially answer the call when we dial 911 and we need help?” Bonfiglio said.

Last year, Blackwater set up operations in a 61,000-square-foot industrial building in Otay Mesa to provide security training for the U.S. Navy.

Opponents contended that Blackwater deliberately avoided public scrutiny by applying for city permits in the names of affiliated companies. A San Diego city auditor found that the company did not misrepresent itself.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders tried to require public hearings on the project. Blackwater responded by seeking a temporary restraining order against the city, saying it was entitled to operate once it had its permits. A federal judge granted the order.

Before opening in Otay Mesa, Blackwater had abandoned a proposal for an 824-acre center in Potrero in East County, citing tests showing that gunfire would exceed local noise standards. The plan had drawn community opposition.

Ray Lutz, the Democratic candidate in last year's election for the 77th Assembly District seat, was a leader of the opposition to Blackwater. Last week, Lutz also criticized Southwestern's deal with the training center.

“We don't want Blackwater using the community's rooms at the college and giving people the impression that this organization is acceptable on campus,” Lutz said.